Savings-bank.



A. SHEPARD.

SAVINGS BANK.

' APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 10,1907.

91 7,671 Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

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M I a A. SHEPARD. SAVINGS BANK. APPLICATION IILBD AUG. 10,1907.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

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srarEg AMOSISHEPARD, OF PLANTSVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HOSEAMANN,

. OF TORRINGTON, CONNEGTIGUT.

SAVINGS-B ANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 6, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Amos SHEPARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Plantsville, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have ll ented certain new and useful Improvementsin'tiavingsdianks, of which the following is a specification.

- My invention relates to improvements in portable savings banks oranalogous receptacles, and t e objects of my improvement are simplicityand economy in construction with efliciency' and convenience in use.

in the accompanying drawing :l igure l is a. front elevation of my bankwith the middle portion broken away, and with the closure plate at thebottom partially withdrawn. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same onthe line 50 of Fig. 1, the (logic plate being fully closed and shown inside elevation. Fig. a central vertical section of the same on a planeextending from side to side instcad of from front to rear, as in Fig. lig. 4 is a reverse plan view of the top plate detached, with itsconnected coin chute box and-trap. Fig. is a transverse section of thesame on the line 3 y of Fig. l, the same being shown bottom side up toillustrate the operation of the trap. Fig. (5 is a side elevation oredge view, of my bank in a modified form. Fig. 7 is a. vertical sectionof .the main portion of the same on the line s of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is adetached reverse plan view of the trap.

The case A or body of the deposit and collection receptacle may be ofany ordinary constriuzlion. It is provided with a closure at the bottomor lower end and a coin chute and gravity check at its upper end. Asshown, the bottom left open and is pro vided with ways 9 Fig. 2, on itstwo longest sides, upon which ways the closure-plate l0 7 is fitted toslide and close the said open end.

In order that the lock 1] for securing this plate may be mounted thereonand look into a keeper 12 on the inner side of the case or receptacle, 1make-the opening at the bottom extend into a contiguous opening in oneside, as at 12-3, Fig. l. and I close this side opening by a flange l tthat is formed on or rigidly mounted on one end of the closure-plate andcompletes that side of the case as shown. This llange I4 and the sideopening are a I little deeper than the upward projection of the lock Iton the upper side of the said plate so that the lock will clear the edgeof the case above the side opening the closureplate slid cndwisc intoand out oi its place in the bottom.

The upper end of the case is provided with side lugs 15 rigidly securedthereto, and provided with screw holes through which to pass the screws16 into threaded holes in the ca p or top plate 17, for holding itsecurely in place. This top plate is provided with an upward extensionthat. forms the upper wall of the coin chute box 18, which boX isprovided on one side with the usual coin slot 2i, for the introductionof coins. The case has its side walls closed against the ad mission oicoins. The coin trap or gravity reverse check is mounted on the inner orun-zlcr side of this top plate and chute box, which trap consists oftheguard box 19 and a peculiarly mounted lever 20. The lever 20 formsthe bottom of the coin chute and the guard box 19 incloses the chute onthree sides. The lever 20 is provided with side flanges 21, throughwhich the pintle 22 extends that hinges the said lever to the lugs 23,or other fixed support on the under side of the top plate. The short endo'l the lever 20 is toward the front, that toward the coin slot 2i andat this short end the lever is thickened by means of a flange 25 so thatthe lever will close the coin slot 24 when the lever is tilted to raisethis short end. 'lhe inner face of the coin chute at the coin slot iscurved in substantially the arc of a circle of which the pintle 22 isthe center, so that the said short end of the lever always closely itsthe inner face of lhcwall having the coin slot 24. The lower end of thelever and -lho lower edge of the guard box 19 that meets the said leverare both for-med with what may be called comb teeth 26, arranged toalternate or shut by each other in order to give the lover a greaterrange, but this particular feature is not of my invention. in order togive greater security against the withdrawal of coins through the coinslot when the bani; is turned bottom side up, I hang the lever 20loosely on its mountings so that it i'ulcrmns on a given axis when thebank is right side up and on another axis, or else does not fulcrum atall, when the bank is turned bottom side up. This may be accomplished byenlarging the pintle orifice 27 in each of the flanges 21 of the lever20, as

shown in Figs. :2 and 5, or by enlarging the pintle orifice in each ofthe lugs 23, the latthe heavier end weight of the turning the bankbottom side ter construction, in a modified form of trap being shown inFigs. 7 and 8. Fig. 6 shows the form of bank B to which the latterconstruction is applied. In this case the bank islarger so that the coinslot 24? is made in the body of the bank instead of in a speciallyformed chute box on the top-plate. The trap comprises a guard box 19 anda lever 20* having end flange 25? and pivoted in the side, flanges orlugs 23 of the box by a pintle 22. This pintle is tight inthe lugs orflanges 21 of the lever, while the pintle orifice 27 in each of lugs 23is much larger vertically than the pintle so that the pintle and levermay move bodily Within the said orifice when the bank is inverted. Inboth constructions the shorter end of the lever is so that when the bankis right side up as shown in Figs. 2 and 7, the lever fulcrums on agiven axis and stands Withits short end far enough below the coin slotto receive a coin that is passed through the said slot on the upper sideof the said lever.

When the coin passes beyond the lever axis the proper distance, it willover-balance the short end of the lever and tilt the lever as indicatedby broken lines in Fig. 7, so that the coin will slide down from thelong end of the lever into the bank. It will also be noticed that thecoin slot is closed by the short end of the lever, when the lever isthus tilted, so that .it impossible for coins to bethen extracted fromunderneath the lever. lf however this single or simplelevcr, in eitherof the constructions shown, should always fulcrum on the same axis. thenupon up, the weight ed or heavier short end of the lever wduld fall downin front of ti coin slot while its long end would move up into theposition indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 5, and leave an openmouth between the long end of the lever and adjacent wall of the guardbox. By shaking the bank a little, coins might be worked into this openmouth, through the coin chute and out at the coin slot. I prevent suchan operation by hang ing the lever loosely in its mountings while at thesame time I employ-a simple (ir single lever which is as cheaplyconstructed and almost as cheaply hung as it its fulcrum was always thesame. \Vhen the bank and its trap are inverted the lever moves so thatboth ends fall down into the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 5,thereby not onlv ctlectually closing the coin slot but also l t l 1 l li t I projection or box on the top plate, I am enabled to easilyconstruct the inner wall at the coin slot to fit the movement of. theshort end of the lever. I am also enabled to arrange a given 'sized trapin a narrower or thinner bank, while the plane of the coin chute isobliquely downward instead of up ward or horizontal. By having the trapmounted upon or formed on the under side of an attached top plate, theconstruction is simple, convenient and inexpensive.

I claim as my invent-ion:--

1. A bank comprising a case having a. coin slot, and

. loosely mounted within the said case in conl i t (t t t .nection withthe said coin slot to fulcrum on a given axis when the bank is rightside up, and for moving on its mountings to prevent the said lever fromfulcruming on the said axis when the bank is turned bottom side up.

2. A. bank comprising a case having a coin slot therein, and a trapcomprising a guard box, a simple lever and a pintle in conncction withthe said coin slot, the said lever being loosely hung by a pin andenlarged orifice mounting to fulcrum on a given axis, when the bank isright side up and for closing the coin slot. and guard box attherespective ends of the said lever when the bank 'is' turned bottomsideup.

3. A bank comprising a case having side lugs rigidly secured thereto onits inner side near its upper end, a top plate having depending lugs onits under side and a coin chute box forming an upward extension having acoin slot in one side wall thereof, the said top plate being mounted onthe up per end of the said case and secured thereto by means of the saidlugs, a guard box mounted on the under side of the said top platebeneath the said upward extension, and a lever pivotally mounted on thedepending lugs of the said top plate within the said guard box andfori'ning the bottom of the coin chute box by extending obliquelydownward from the said coin slot to the opposite wall of the said guardbox.

AMOS? SHEPARD. lVit nesses:

a trap comprising a simple level"

